HUMAN RIGHTS

President Trump's predecessor, President Obama, was criticized by some for not doing enough to fight for human rights? Will Trump fair any better?

*UPDATE: Under President Trumparrestsin the U.S. for human trafficking were up 150% in 2017 and are on track to be up nearly500%in 2018 over 2016 numbers. Through late June 2018, human trafficking arrests for the year approached 6,000 which is an all time high. And over 2,300 suspected child predators arrested through Operation Broken Heart and ICE’s Operation Predator since 2017.

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4/3/17: Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assadin ordered another chemical attack against his own people in Syria killing at least 85, including 20 children. This time, with President Trump at the helm, the reaction was much different than the last time al-Assadin attacked his own people during Obama's tenure. As the world watched, America responded quickly by launching 59 tomahawk missles striking the Syrian military airfield that was responsible for the chemical attack on the Syrian civilians. President Trump commented after the strike: "Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror."

9/17/17: Donald Trump had strong words for countries with human rights violations that sit on the United Nations panel to combat those abuses. During his first speech to the United States General Assembly, the President said it is an “embarrassment” that there are countries on the UN human rights panel that have themselves committed atrocities. While Mr Trump did not mention specific countries, there are US allies on that panel who the President has previously been hesitant to condemn. “It is a massive source of embarrassment for the United Nations that some governments with egregious human rights records sit on the UN Human Rights Council,” Mr Trump said Tuesday in New York.

12/21/17: President Trump signed an executive order declaring a national emergency related to “serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world.” The order stated “the prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption" outside of the United States "have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems.” The executive order blocks property and assets of persons involved in human rights abuses and corruption.

12/21/17: Trump imposed sanctions (through an executive order) on 13 individuals, using his authority under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Act for humans-rights violations and corruption, including a Myanmar general accused of ethnic cleansing against Muslim minorities. The newly enforced sanction also target 39 entities and makes it much easier for the U.S. government to single out and punish egregious cases of abuse.

12/31/17: Unlike President Obama, President Trump took a much more vocal approach in showing support for the Iranian people during their latest widespread protests. When large protests happened in Iran back in 2009, then-President Barack Obama reacted extemely cautiously, concerned that intervention could make America -- reviled as the "Great Satan" by Iran's regime -- a rallying cause for the oppresive clerical regime. Eight years later, with protests erupting agai in Iran, America's position is dramatically different, with President Trump tweeting repeatedly expressing support for the Iranian people. He openly called for regime change stating in one of his Tweets: "Iran is failing at every level despite the terrible deal made with them by the Obama Administration. The great Iranian people have been repressed for many years. They are hungry for food & for freedom. Along with human rights, the wealth of Iran is being looted. TIME FOR CHANGE!" He also tweeted: "Iran, the Number One State of Sponsored Terror with numerous violations of Human Rights occurring on an hourly basis, has now closed down the Internet so that peaceful demonstrators cannot communicate. Not good!"

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1/30/18: International Center for the Defense of Human Life and the Lawton Foundation for Human Rights awarded President Donald Trump their highest award: "The Medal of Life."

4/11/18: President Trump signed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act into law marking a victory for the hundreds of thousands of victims across the country. The new law paves the way for victims of sex trafficking to hold websites accountable for knowingly facilitating sex trafficking.

​6/22/18: The Trump administration announced that the U.S. will withdraw from the United Nations Human Rights Council. "I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from human rights commitments," Nikki Haley told the media. "On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights." The UN Human Rights Council has a disasterous and hypocrtical record on human rights.

7/6/18: ICE rescued 904 children from being raped and molested in fiscal year 2017.

9/5/18: And over 2,300 suspected child predators have been arrested through Operation Broken Heart and ICE’s Operation Predator since 2017.

11/1/18: The United States imposed new sanctions Thursday on Venezuela and Cuba and promised additional penalties against Nicaragua as the Trump administration laid out a hard-line policy toward countries the White House branded a "troika of tyranny."

11/27/18: The Trump administration has imposed sanctions against Nicaragua's Vice-President Rosario Murillo, the wife of President Daniel Ortega, accusing her of corruption and serious human rights abuses.

12/22/18: President Trump signed into law H.R. 7213, the “Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Act of 2018” (the “Act”). The law develops a strategy and policy to plan for, detect, and protect against unauthorized chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear materials or devices in the United States. The use of these weapons have been the weapon of choice for overseas human rights violators.

12/27/18: President Trump’s adviser and daughter Ivanka Trump is on a mission to stop sex trafficking. She is an advocate for many critical issues, from job training to tax reform. Yet it’s her work to end human trafficking that could have the largest impact globally. Ivanka Trump has worked tirelessly with stakeholders, including survivors, members of Congress, and the president’s Interagency Task Force to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (PITF). The task force draws from the efforts of 15 departments and agencies to prosecute traffickers while learning from survivors’ stories.

1/9/18: President Donald Trump signed the Frederick Douglass Trafficking Victims Prevention and Protection Reauthorization Act. The law authorizes $430 million to be spent over the next four years to help combat sex and labor trafficking both in the United States and abroad.

1/27/19: Alveda King, a niece of Martin Luther King Jr., and a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, has been nominated by the president to serve on the Frederick Douglass Bicentennial Commission.